2010 WSOP MAIN EVENT REACHES FINAL DAY: JOSEPH CHEONG LEADS WITH 27 PLAYERS LEFT

Official Report
No-Limit Hold’em World Championship


Down to 27:  All Remaining Players Guaranteed at Least $317,161

51 Players Hit the Rail

78 Players Begin Day Seven – Only 27 Survive

Survivors Return on Saturday, July 17th for Day Eight

Out of 7,319 Total Starters – Only 27 Dreams Remain Alive

Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States Represented in Final 27

Canadians Hold Three of Top Seven Spots in Current Standings

Note:  For the tournament portal page for this event, including the day’s chip counts, click HERE.

OVERVIEW
 
Day Seven of the World Series of Poker Main Event was the equivalent of plunging a handful of ruby-red, vine-ripe tomatoes into a high-speed blender.  What went in ultimately was not what came out.  In fact, the end result was utterly unrecognizable.  The carnage resembled a crime scene -- the perfect description if you were to ask 51 poker players now bandaging their broken dreams of winning the 2010 world championship, who failed to survive the day.

Just about everything on this day flip-flopped.  Down became up.  Up became down.  Day turned to night.  Chip leaders busted out.  Players with virtually no chips when play started catapulted into the top 10.  Indeed, this was the most unpredictable of all days, illustrated by the fact that all previous end-of-day chip leaders have now been eliminated (except the current chip leader).

Day Seven was the seventh full session of competition for players who remain alive in this year's Main Event.  The day started out with 78 players.  After nearly five levels of play lasting nearly 12 hours, only 27 players survived.  The surviving 27 players return on Saturday to continue play on Day Eight, which will be the last playing session until the final table commences in November.

The end of Day Seven chip leader is Joseph Cheong, from La Mirada, CA.  He is a 24-year-old Korean-born poker pro.  Last year, Cheong graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of California at San Diego.
 
Cheong won a WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah's Rincon, held earlier this year.  His victory paid $17,541 in prize money, plus his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.  At the time, Cheong stated he intended to play in the WSOP and would hopefully win his first gold bracelet.  Right now, he appears on schedule to accomplish his lofty goal.  Cheong is one of only two players at this stage of the tournament who have more than 20 million in chips.

Among those who did not fare as well on Day Seven were former gold bracelet winner Theo Jorgensen (Copenhagen, Denmark), who was the chip leader at the start of the day.  Jorgensen endured a brutal final hour during which he slid from 12 million in chips to oblivion.
 
Another player who suffered an unwelcome fate was Evan Lamprea (Woodstock, Ontario) who was the chip leader at the end of Day Five.  He ran out of momentum and ended up as the 46th-place finisher.

Other notables who were eliminated on this day included -- Jacobo Fernandez (Bronx, NY), David Benyamine (Henderson, NV), Eric Baldwin (Las Vegas, NV), and Jean-Robert Bellande (Las Vegas, NV).

All players are now guaranteed $317,161 in prize money.  Top prize is the 2010 world championship, the gold bracelet, and $8,944,138.
 
The next stage of play is expected to trim the 27 remaining competitors down to just nine survivors, who will constitute the official final table of this year’s Main Event, otherwise known as the “November Nine.”  

The end of day results also prolong the drama surrounding this year's Player of the Year race.  The winner will be either Frank Kassela (Las Vegas, NV) as the sole champion, or Kassela sharing the title with Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi (Miramar, FL).  Since Mizrachi remains alive in the Main Event, he stays in contention for the win.  Kassela busted out on Day Four and is now guaranteed no worse than a tie for first-place in the point race.  The only way Mizrachi can catch Kassela (for a tie) is if he wins the Main Event.

THE BASICS

There are 27 players remaining.

The current chip leader is Joseph Cheong, from La Mirada, CA.  He is 24 years old.  Cheong has never cashed in the WSOP Main Event before.

There are four former gold bracelet winners still alive in the Main Event.  They are – Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi, Hasan Habib, Scott Clements, and Pascal LeFrancois.

The average age of players remaining is 28 years and four months.

The oldest player still remaining is Hasan Habib (Downey, CA) – at 48-years-old.

The youngest player still remaining is Michiel Sijpkens (Rotterdam, Netherlands) – at 21 years, 3 months.

Of the surviving players, 21 of 27 are age 29 or younger.

There are 18 Americans remaining in the Main Event.

There are nine non-American (international) players remaining in the Main Event.

There are eight different nations with players still alive in the Main Event.  They are Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States.

Three Canadians are among the top seven-ranked players – Pascal LeFrancois, Matthew Jarvis, and Jonathan Duhamel.

There are no women remaining in the Main Event.  The last survivor was Breeze Zuckerman (Moorpark, CA), who finished in 121st place.

There are no former world champions remaining.  Johnny Chan (Las Vegas, NV) was this year’s top finisher, finishing in 156th place.

THE LEADERBOARD

The end of day chip leader is Joseph Cheong, from La Mirada, CA.  He is a 24-year-old professional poker player who was born in Seoul, South Korea.  Cheong graduated from UC-San Diego last year, where he earned a degree in psychology.  Cheong’s first major tournament victory took place three months ago at the WSOP Circuit event held at Harrah’s Rincon, near San Diego.

In Cheong’s tournament win at Rincon, he knocked out six of his final eight opponents.  He was presented with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, the coveted award presented to all champions of WSOP Circuit tournaments held around the country.  He had previously cashed at a few tournaments held in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Ranked in second place is Cuong “Soi” Nguyen, from Santa Ana, CA.  He is a 27-year-old Vietnamese-born part-time poker player.  He is close on Cheong's heels in chips.  Nguyen is also at least 5 million ahead of the nearest third-place challenger.

The chip leader from the previous day was Theo Jorgensen, from Copenhagen, Denmark.  He was eliminated in 30th place, good for $255,242 – but no November Nine appearance and no second gold bracelet.   

Two players have crossed the 20-million chip mark.  The first player to do so was Joseph Cheong, just prior to the dinner break.

The first player to cross the 10-million chip threshold was John Racener, from Port Richey, FL.  He won a $4 million pot about three hours into play on Day Seven and temporarily rocketed up into the chip lead, with more than $10 million at the time.

Only three players (one-ninth of field) have in excess of 15,000,000 in chips.

Only nine players (one-third of field) have in excess of 10,000,000 in chips.

There are six players who have less than 3,000,000 in chips.

Here is how the chip leaders from each day (of this year’s Main Event) have fared, thus far:

1-A:  Corwin Cole, from Las Vegas, NV – Did Not Cash
1-B:  James Danielson, from LaPlata, MD – Did Not Cash
1-C:  Mathieu Sauriol, from Laval, Quebec (Canada) – CASHED in 532nd place
1-D:  Steve Billirakis, from Bourbonnais, IL – CASHED, in 257th place
2-A:  Boulos Estafanous, from Darien, IL – CASHED in 733rd place
2-B:  David Assouline from Hampstead, Quebec (Canada) – CASHED, in 44th place
3:  James Carroll, from Henderson, NV – CASHED, in 96th place
4:  Tony Dunst, Las Vegas, NV – CASHED, in 50th place
5:  Evan Lamprea, Woodstock, Ontario (Canada) – CASHED, in 46th place
6:  Theo Jorgensen, Copenhagen, Denmark – CASHED, in 30th place
7:  Joseph Cheong, La Mirada, CA – Currently in 1st place

Note that all end of day chip leaders have now been eliminated from the tournament (except the current chip leader).

THE 27  PLAYERS
 
Joseph Cheong        24,490,000    LA MIRADA        CA     US
Soi Nguyen        23,100,000    SANTA ANA        CA     US
Pascal LeFrancois    15,780,000    ROSEMERE        QC     CA
Jason Senti        13,550,000    ST. LOUIS PARK    MN     US
Matthew Jarvis        13,300,000    SURREY        BC     CA
Matt Affleck        12,515,000    MILL CREEK        WA     US
Jonathan Duhamel    10,520,000    BOUCHERVILLE    QC     CA
John Racener        10,470,000    PORT RICHEY        FL     US
Filippo Candio        10,020,000    CAGLIARI            IT
Benjamin Statz        9,885,000    MADISON        WI     US
Robert    Pisano        8,060,000    LAS VEGAS        NV     US
Michiel Sijpkens        7,765,000    ROTTERDAM             NL
Duy Le            7,255,000    SAN JOSE        CA     US
Scott Clements        7,250,000    MOUNT VERNON    WA     US
David Baker        6,825,000    KATY            TX     US
Michael    Mizrachi    6,300,000    MIAMI            FL     US
Brandon Steven        6,045,000    WICHITA        KS     US
Adam Levy        4,745,000    LOS ANGLES        CA     US
William    Thorson    3,680,000    VARBERG             SE
Redmond Lee        3,315,000    LONDON             GB
Mads Wissing        3,070,000    COPENHAGEN             DK
Ronnie    Bardah        2,525,000    STONEHAM        MA     US
Matthew Bucaric    2,270,000    KNOXVILLE         TN     US
John Dolan        2,175,000    BONITA SPRINGS    FL     US
Patrick    Eskandar    1,655,000    LADERA RANCH    CA     US
Johnny    Lodden        1,560,000    JORPELAND              NO
Hasan Habib        1,510,000    DOWNEY         CA     US

2010 GOLD BRACELET WINNERS (STATUS)

There were 56 WSOP gold bracelet winners this year coming into the Main Event.  Here are the players who either cashed, or who remain alive going into Day Eight, along with their current status:

Michael Mizrachi -- STILL ALIVE, currently in 16th place
Pascal LeFrancois -- STILL ALIVE, currently in 3rd place
Tomer Berda – Cashed – 134th place
Matt Keikoan – Cashed – 196th place
Praz Bansi – Cashed – 240th place
Jason DeWitt – Cashed – 274th place
Simon Watt – Cashed – 397th place
Carter Phillips – Cashed – 483rd place
Eric Buchman – Cashed – 554th place
Frank Kassela -- Cashed – 674th place
Gavin Smith -- Cashed – 730th place

OTHER NOTABLE ELIMINATIONS

Dag Palovic (Bratislava, Slovakia) cashed in the Main Event for the second consecutive year.  In fact his 37th-place finish in this year’s championship combined with a 120th-place finish last year means he has outlasted more players in the Main Event over the past two years than any other player.

Evan Lamprea, from Woodstock, Ontario (Canada) was the chip leader at the end of Day Five.  He finally ran out of momentum and ended up as the 46th-place finisher in what was only his second time in-the-money at the WSOP.  He collected a very respectable $168,556.

Jacobo Fernandez, from Bronx, NY has 14 cashes within the last three years at the WSOP.  He earned his fourth six-digit career cash with a 49th place finish.

David Benyamine, originally from France and now residing in Henderson, NV, was eliminated in 58th place.  He is one of the few poker pros who excels in both cash games and tournaments.  Benyamine often plays in the highest cash games in the world.  His WSOP winnings now total more than $1 million.

Eric Baldwin, originally from Wisconsin and now living in Las Vegas, NV, was eliminated in 59th place.  Baldwin won a No-Limit Hold’em gold bracelet last year.  His payout amounted to $138,285.

There are quite a few notable players of Middle Eastern origin who participate in the WSOP.  However, relatively few Middle Eastern countries are represented among the 92 nations and territories which sent players to the Main Event.  A notable exception was Meenakski Subramaniam, who presently resides in Muscat, Oman.  Subramaniam works as a tax consultant and plays poker part-time.  This marked his first time to cash in a WSOP event.  Subramaniam was the 67th-place finisher and received $114,205 in prize money.

Jean-Robert Bellande, one of poker’s most demonstrative personalities and watchable characters, enjoyed his best Main Event performance ever -- with a 78th-place finish.  Bellande, known for his appearance on the reality television show “Survivor” a few years ago, has more than $1 million in overall career poker tournament winnings.  He collected $94,942 in prize money.

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH CHEONG (CHIP LEADER)

Joseph Cheong (La Mirada, CA) is a 24-year-old professional poker player who was born in Seoul, South Korea.  Cheong graduated from UC-San Diego last year, where he earned a degree in psychology.  Cheong’s first major tournament victory took place three months ago at the WSOP Circuit event held at Harrah’s Rincon, near San Diego.  This is the first time he has played in the Main Event.  Cheong currently has 24,490,000 in chips and appears headed for an exciting Day Eight and perhaps a busy November.

Question:  What have you been doing the last three months since you won the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon?
Cheong:  I’ve mostly been playing online.  I moved out here in May and got an apartment.  I’ve been here at the World Series of Poker playing every single day since then.  

Question:  Aside from the Main Event, how did this year’s WSOP go for you?
Cheong:  I think I played between 18 and 20 events this year.  I’ve cashed two times.  I got 24th place in the $1,500 buy-in Six-Max, and 29th place in the $5,000 buy-in Six-Max.

Question:  Were you disappointed with your results coming in?
Cheong:  I was disappointed about my finish in the $5K.  I was the chip leader for most of Day Two and just spewed it all off.  That was grinding down on me for a while.  It only tilts me when I make a mistake.  

Question:  Did you consider skipping the Main Event, or what made you decide to go ahead and play?
Cheong:  To be perfectly honest, I was risking about a third of my bankroll here this summer.  If nothing worked out, I was going to go back to school, and then just play poker on the side as a hobby.  Luckily, it seems to have worked out so I guess I do not need to go back and can continue playing poker.  

Question:  You have a college degree in psychology.  Does that help you at the table?
Cheong:  It does not help at all.  It seems like it would.  But in psychology, we learn about mental disorders and things like that which has nothing to do with poker players.

Question:  Are you sure about that?
Cheong:  (Laughing) Well, maybe it does apply.  But in general, I really do not think about psychology at all when I am playing.  It’s more about math.  

Question:  Do you enjoy playing in this event, or is it more like work?
Cheong:  It would be like work, except there is so much money on the line where now it’s fun.  That makes it so much more enjoyable.  

Question:  Can you start thinking now about maybe making the November Nine, or beyond?
Cheong:  I really do not think about that at all.  Hopefully, I will play well tomorrow and still be in it for the final nine.  If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.  It’s a little more relaxing now, being guaranteed ($317,161).

Question:  Let’s say a genie pops out of a bottle right now and offers you fifth place in the Main Event.  You win $2,332,960, plus you make the November Nine.  But you do not win, and you may never get back there again.  Would you take the deal?
Cheong:  (Pause) Hmmm.  It’s a close decision.  $2.3 million is a lot of money at this stage.  I’m not guaranteed anywhere close to fifth place yet.  Let’s call it a push.    

AN INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT CLEMENTS (14th IN CHIPS)

Scott Clements (Mt. Vernon, WA) is a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner.  He is making his deepest run ever in the Main Event.  Clements currently has 7,250,000 in chips, which is right in the middle of the pack.

Question:  You had an up and down day. What are your thoughts about how you did overall?
Clements:  Things started out great.  On the first hand, I doubled up.  I came in kinda short, played some rough hands yesterday.  Dropped down to 2 million, and then doubled up to 4 million when I hit a nice ace with A-K vs. Kings, and got it up to 11 million.  Then, I dropped back to 7 million and have been hanging around there ever since.

Question:  What are your plans for tomorrow?  Are you thinking big picture?  Hour by hour?
Clements:  I’m going to wait to see what the table is like and see who I’m playing and make a decision.  Once I see how they are playing, I’ll address it from there.

Question:  Do you feel like this is your time coming, or feel more that you’ve just been playing your best poker and have made it happen yourself?
Clements:  I feel like I’m going to do my best to make the final nine.  I feel like I’ve been playing really well this tournament.   I made the worst call of the tournament a little earlier ago, but I’m not going to do that again, just hoping I get good cards.

Question:  If you were offered ninth-place money right now, would you take it?
Clements:  No chance.   

THE TOURNAMENT

All players began this tournament with 30,000 in chips.  The average stack size when play began on this day was about 2,815,000 in chips.

Play was nine-handed.  This format is expected to remain in effect until play reaches the final 10 players, which then combines temporarily to a 10-handed table.  After one player is eliminated, the “November Nine” will be set and the tournament will take a three-month hiatus.

Day Seven played 4 1/4 levels.  Each level is two hours long.  Play began at noon and ended at 11:20 pm.

The average stack size is currently 8,132,222 in chips.

When players return for Day Eight, blinds will be $60,000-$120,000 with a $15,000 ante.  There is 1:33 (hours/minutes) remaining in Level 30.

Day Seven began with 78 players.  There were 27 survivors.  This means 35 percent of starters survived the session.

With this day now complete, there are 27 total players still alive in the Main Event.  

Players who survived Day Seven will return to continue their quest for the 2010 world poker championship on Saturday, July 17th, at 12 noon.  Play will continue until only nine players remain.

Payouts increase at various intervals.  Every player still alive in the tournament is currently guaranteed at least $317,161 in prize money.  The next jump comes when 18th place is reached, which will pay $396,967 in the next increment.

THE NATIONS

The following nations (8) still have players alive in the Main Event:

United States – 18 players
Canada – 3 players
Denmark – 1 player
Italy -- 1 player
Sweden – 1 player
Great Britain – 1 player
Netherlands – 1 player
Norway – 1 player

There are five players still alive in the Main Event who reside in the Los Angeles area, the most of any metro region.

There were 92 nations and territories represented among all players who entered this year’s WSOP Main Event. (The entire 2010 WSOP attracted participants from 117 different locales).

This year’s Main Event was comprised of 67.9 percent Americans.  In other words, 32.1 percent of all participants were from other nations and territories.

ODDS AND ENDS

Based on the birthdates of all 7,319 players, the average age of all participants in the Main Event is 37 years and 4 months.

Only one of the four Mizrachi Brothers (Michael Mizrachi) remains alive in the Main Event.  All four brothers cashed -- a WSOP first.  But three brothers have now been eliminated, as Eric Mizrachi Daniel Mizrachi, and Robert Mizrachi went out in 718th, 345th, and 116th places, respectively.

Michael Mizrachi is enjoying a stellar WSOP.  No matter what happens from this point forward, Mizrachi’s victory in the Poker Players Championship in addition to his deep run in the Main Event will prevail as one of the top storylines and most impressive accomplishments of any player at this year’s World Series.

Another set of brothers cashed this year as well.  Matt Keikoan and Todd Keikoan both made it into the money.  Two-time gold bracelet winner Matt Keikoan took 196th.  His brother, Todd Keikoan finished in 421st place.

This is the 57th and final event on the 2010 WSOP schedule which is played in Las Vegas.  Five more gold bracelet events will take place in London, England, at the Empire Casino, to be held September 14 through 28th as part of the Fourth Annual World Series of Poker Europe.    

This marks the sixth consecutive year the WSOP has been held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.  Prior to 2005, the WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas.  As a testament to the expansion of the WSOP since Harrah’s Entertainment assumed ownership and control of the world most prestigious poker event, more than three quarters of the $1.2 billion in prize money has been awarded to winners within the Rio – three times the amount awarded during the entire 35-year period at the Horseshoe.

This is the 885th gold bracelet event in World Series of Poker history.  Note:  This figure includes every official WSOP event played, including tournaments during the early years when there were no actual gold bracelets awarded.  It also includes the 11 gold bracelets awarded to date at WSOP Europe.

In the 41-year history of the WSOP, the total combined amount of prize money that has been awarded amounts to $1,228,375,121.

The total number of entrants in the WSOP Main Event (all years combined) is 50,756.

The WSOP title sponsor the last two years has been Jack Link’s Beef Jerky.  As part of a fun promotion, Jack Links gives away large quantities of their product to Main Event players who make big hands.  This year’s key hand is four jacks.  61 players have made the hand thus far.

WOMEN IN THE MAIN EVENT

Special Note:  The WSOP recognizes that player characteristics such as gender, race, etc. do not typically warrant special mention.  However, since many members of the media wish to know details about female participation and status, the staff is providing this information for media use.

All women have been eliminated.  Breeze Zuckerman was the top female finisher -- in 121st place.

The unofficial total number of females who participated in this year’s Main Event was 216.  There is no official record since entrants are not designated by their gender.  However, it has been customary to count every player at the start of Day One and take an unofficial head-count of female players.  This figure represents about 3 percent of the field.

Here are the highest-female finishers (by year) in the WSOP Main Event (Note:  Only players who finished in-the-money were recorded):

No female cashed in the Main Event between the years 1970-1985.

1986 – Wendeen Eolis (25th)
1987 – None
1988 – None
1989 – None
1990 – None
1991 – None
1992 – None
1993 – Marsha Waggoner (19th)
1994 – Barbara Samuelson (10th)
1995 – Barbara Enright (5th)
1996 – Lucy Rokach (26th)
1997 – Marsha Waggoner (12th)
1998 – Susie Isaacs (10th)
1999 – None
2000 – Annie Duke (10th)
2001 – None
2002 – None
2003 – Annie Duke (47th)
2004 – Rose Richie (98th)
2005 – Tiffany Williamson (15th)
2006 – Sabyl Cohen-Landrum (56th)
2007 – Maria Ho (38th)
2008 – Tiffany Michelle (17th)
2009 – Leo Margets, a.k.a. Leonor Margets (27th)
2010 – Breeze Zuckerman (121st)  

MAIN EVENT SUMMARY (NOTABLE PLAYERS)

Here is a final summary of this year's performances of all former WSOP Main Event Champions:

1975/1976:  Doyle Brunson – Eliminated Day 2-B
1978:  Bobby “the Owl” Baldwin – Eliminated Day 2-A  
1983:  Tom McEvoy – Eliminated Day 2-A
1986:  Berry Johnston – Eliminated Day 2-A
1987/1988:  Johnny Chan – CASHED – 156th PLACE
1989:  Phil Hellmuth – Eliminated Day 1-C
1993:  Jim Bechtel – Eliminated Day 3
1995:  Dan Harrington – Eliminated Day 4
1996:  Huck Seed – Eliminated Day 1-C
1998:  Scotty Nguyen – CASHED -- 209th PLACE
2000:  Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – Eliminated Day 2-B
2001:  Carlos Mortensen – Eliminated Day 2-A
2002:  Robert Varkonyi – Eliminated Day 4
2003:  Chris Moneymaker – Eliminated Day 3
2004:  Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – Eliminated Day 1-A
2005:  Joe Hachem – Eliminated Day 1-D
2006:  Jamie Gold – Eliminated Day 1-B
2007:  Jerry Yang – Eliminated Day 1-C   
2009:  Joe Cada – Eliminated Day 3

Hence, only two of 19 former champions cashed in the Main Event.  The top finisher of the group was Johnny Chan.

Here is a final summary of performances by last year’s November Nine:

Joe Cada – Eliminated Day 3
Darvin Moon – Eliminated Day 2-B
Antoine Saout – Eliminated Day 2-B
Eric Buchman – CASHED -- 554th PLACE
Jeff Shulman – Eliminated Day 2-B
Steven Begleiter – Eliminated on Day 1-C
Phil Ivey – Eliminated Day 2-B
Kevin Schaffel – Eliminated Day 1-B
James Akenhead – Eliminated Day 2-A

Hence, only one of nine former final table participants from 2009 cashed in the Main Event.  The top finisher of the group was Eric Buchman.

Here is a summary of former WSOP Players of the Year:

Daniel Negreanu – Eliminated Day 3
Allen Cunningham – CASHED – 581st PLACE
Jeff Madsen – Eliminated Day 1-C
Tom Schneider – Eliminated Day 2-B
Erick Lindgren – Eliminated Day 1-B
Jeffrey Lisandro – Eliminated Day 1-D

Hence, only one of six former Players of the Year cashed in the Main Event.  The top finisher of the group was Allen Cunningham.

WSOP MAIN EVENT ALL-TIME RECORDS

MOST LIFETIME FINAL TABLE APPEARANCES

Doyle Brunson (5)
1976 1st
1977 1st
1980 2nd
1982 4th
1983 3rd

Jesse Alto (5)
1988 9th
1985 6th
1978 5th
1986 4th
1984 3rd

Johnny Moss (5)
1974 1st
1971 1st
1985 7th
1979 5th
1980 4th

Dan Harrington (4)
1995 1st
1987 6th
2004 4th
2003 3rd

T.J. Cloutier (4)
1988 5th
1998 3rd
1985 2nd
2000 2nd

Stu Ungar (4)
1997 1st
1980 1st
1981 1st
1990 9th

Note 1: Johnny Moss’ victory in 1970 is not included amongst final table records, since the winner that year was determined by a vote.

Note 2: Crandall Addington actually holds the record with nine Main Event final table appearances. However, most of these did not include a prize-money payout (field sizes were considerably smaller during the 1970s when most of Addington’s appearances occurred).

Note 3: Final table appearances were counted only if the player also received a payout.

Most Main Event Wins (Career):

3 – Johnny Moss (*first win was by vote)
3 – Stu Ungar
2 – Doyle Brunson
2 – Johnny Chan

Most Main Event Cashes (Career):

10 – Berry Johnston *
8 – Humberto Brenes -- CASHED THIS YEAR (Now 8)
7 – Bobby Baldwin
7 – Doyle Brunson
7 – Jay Heimowitz
7 – Phil Hellmuth
7 – Mike Sexton
6 – John Bonetti
6 – Johnny Moss
6 – Jason Lester
6 – Steve Lott
5 – 14 players tied with 5 cashes each

* MORE ON BERRY JOHNSTON:
Berry Johnston’s cashes in the Main Event include:
113th in 2007
16th in 1996
21st in 1995
17th in 1992
5th in 1990
29th in 1989
32nd in 1987
1st in 1986
3rd in 1985
3rd in 1982

Most Main Event Final Tables (Career):

5 – Doyle Brunson
5 – Jesse Alto
4 – Johnny Chan
4 – T.J. Cloutier
4 – Dan Harrington
4 – Berry Johnston
4 – Johnny Moss
4 – Stu Ungar
3 – 6 players tied with 3 final tables each

Youngest Winner

Joe Cada (2009) -- 21 years, 11 months, 22 days

Oldest Winner

    Johnny Moss (1974) – 66 years, 11 months, 24 days
 
Oldest Participant

97 years -- Jack Ury (2010)

Most Consecutive Years Played

37 – Howard “Tahoe” Andrew (1974 to present)

Most Main Events Played (Career)

38 – Doyle Brunson (did not play 1999 through 2001)

Most Consecutive Years to Cash (Main Event)

4 – Theodore Park (2005 – 2008)
4 – Bo Sehlstedt (2004 – 2007)
4 – Robert Turner (1991 – 1994)

2010 WSOP STATISTICS (INCLUDING MAIN EVENT)

Tournament attendance is up significantly from last year when there were 60,875 entries (then, a record).  This year, there were 72,966 total entries -- an increase of 20 percent.  Hence, this is the biggest WSOP of all time, measured by total participation.  

Prize money increased from 2008, when the total money awarded was a record $180,774,427.  This year, the total amount of prize money awarded was $187,109,850 – an increase of 3.5 percent.

This year, there were 57 gold bracelet events – which is the same number as last year.

Through the conclusion of Event #56, the nationalities of gold bracelet winners have been:

United States (38)
Great Britain (5)
Canada (5)
Hungary (2)
New Zealand (1)
France (1)
Russia (1)
Norway (1)
Holland (1)
Israel (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #56, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has been:

United States (31)
Great Britain (5)
Canada (5)
Vietnam (2)
China (2)
Hungary (2)
New Zealand (1)
France (1)
Lebanon (1)
Russia (1)
Mexico (1)
Bangladesh (1)
Norway (1)
Holland (1)
Israel (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #56, the breakdown of professional poker players to semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets is as follows:

Professional Players (39): Michael Chow, Michael Mizrachi, Praz Bansi, Josh Tieman, Peter Gelencser, James Dempsey, Men “the Master” Nguyen, Matt Matros, Yan R. Chen, Steve Gee, Carter Phillips, Jason DeWitt; Eric Buchman, David Baker, Richard Ashby, Dutch Boyd, Sammy Farha, David Warga, Will Haydon, Matt Keikoan, Mike Ellis, Luis Velador, Ayaz Mahmood, Phil Ivey, Luigi Kwaysser, Scott Montgomery, Steven Kelly, Steve Jelinek, Dean Hamrick, Ian Gordon, Gavin Smith, Jesse Rockowitz, Chris Bell, Shawn Busse, Sigurd Eskeland, Chance Kornuth, Ryan Welch, Brendan Taylor, Daniel Alaei

Semi-Pros (8): Frank Kassela, Tex Barch, Miguel Proulx, Jeffrey Papola, Frank Kassela, Mike Linn, Dan Kelly, Tomer Berda

Amateurs (9): Duc Pham, Aadam Daya, Pascal LeFrancois, Simon Watt, Vanessa Hellebuyck, Jeff Tebben, Konstantin Puchkov, Harold Angle, Marcel Vonk

Through the conclusion of Event #56, here is the list of repeat WSOP gold bracelet winners:

Praz Bansi
Men “the Master” Nguyen
Russ “Dutch” Boyd
Sammy Farha
David Warga (* his first WSOP win was in a non-open event)
Matt Keikoan
Luis Velador
Phil Ivey
Frank Kassela (two wins this year)
Daniel Alaei

Through the conclusion of 2010 World Series of Poker -- Event #56:

Youngest Winner – Steven Kelly (21), Dan Kelly (21)
Oldest Winner – Harold Angle (78)
Female Winners (open events) – None
Multiple-Event Winners (this year) – Frank Kassela